Congress CWC Meet: The Congress Working Committee members passed the resolution on Saturday and unanimously urged former party chief Rahul Gandhi to take the role of leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. The CWC credited his two Bharat Jodo Yatras for the party's performance in the general elections.
After the CWC meeting, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the resolution has been moved by all the leaders and chief ministers, and the name of the Leader of Opposition will be announced by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
"All Chief Minister and leaders have moved a resolution for LoP and the entire party has stood on the issue. The Congress President will announce the LoP" Shivakumar said.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said, "CWC (Congress Working Committee) unanimously requested Rahul Gandhi to take the position of the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha...Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign inside the Parliament."
Congress leader Ajay Rai said, "It was the CWC's wish that Rahul Gandhi be made the LoP and be the voice of the common man and raise their issues in the Parliament... We are working on why we got fewer seats in some states. Their claim of 'Congress mukt' has failed and the country has now become 'Congress yukt' again."
This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
The CWC adopted two resolutions, one hailing the role of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls. It also credited the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatras for its good performance.
The CWC resolution also said the people's verdict was not just a political loss but a personal and moral defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had sought a mandate in his name.
The grand old party has emerged as the second-largest party in the Lok Sabha, improving its tally to 99 from 52 in the 2019 elections. This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA bagged 293 seats in the recently concluded polls and are set to form the government. It will be for the first time that the BJP will be forming government without majority in the lower house since it came to power in 2014.